FTSE 100 will beat female board member target, says Sir Win Bischoff

Sir Win Bischoff has predicted that FTSE 100 companies will easily meet
Government targets to double the number of women on their boards by 2015,
but warned that chairmen must rethink how to achieve meaningful equality at
the top.

Sir Win is a founder of the 30% Club, a diversity group set up to support more women onto company boardsPhoto: Alamy

The Lloyds Banking Group chairman is one of few senior corporate figures to expect Britain to meet its target for women to take up one-in-four boardroom posts by 2015. Critics have warned progress is too slow. At present, female board representation is just over 15pc, up 2.5pc from a year ago.

However, Sir Win said the majority of new roles occupied by women at the top table were for non-executive positions, because the executive supply was still far too low.

“Where the real test comes in is whether we get the same participation in the group executive committee,” he said. “That’s the task of the chairman, but that’s a much longer task.”

Sir Win is a founder of the 30% Club, a diversity group set up to support more women onto company boards. On Tuesday, the club is to announce that 50 chairmen now back its campaign to see female board representation reach 30pc - beyond the Government’s target.

“I suspect the 25pc target Lord Davies set by 2015 will be met well before then,” he said. “In the FTSE 100, by the end of this year, we’ll easily hit 20pc.